Documentary Review: The War #7: A World Without War by Ken Burns

 The seventh of the series by Ken Burns tells several different stories:  The Battle of Okinawa and the kamikaze planes that inflicted heavy loses on the Navy.  The death of President Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman takes over.  The Soviets begin the final assault on Berlin and the suicide of Adolph Hitler.  The concentration camps are liberated with the Holocaust is made known to the world.  Victory Europe Day is celebrated, but the war against Japan goes on.  USS Indianapolis is sunk after delivering atomic bomb; only 300 of 1100 survive.  800 went into the water but sharks and hyperthermia claimed many.  The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  The Japanese surrender and victory Japan Day.  The return of the service men to civilian life.  Some do better than others and shell shock leaves permanent scars.  African Americans return to a segregated world.  Japanese are freed from the holding centers.  Civilian prisoners are freed in the Phillipines but many starve before the liberation.  Prisoners in Japan are freed.  Some were thought dead.

The War #1 A Necessary War

The War #2 When Things Get Tough

The War #3 A Deadly Calling

The War #4 Pride of Our Nation

The War #5 FUBAR

The War #6 The Ghost Front

The War #7 A World Without War

Documentary Review: The War: A World Without War: Number 7

This last episode in this series covers a lot of ground.  First there is the death of President Roosevelt, which was followed by victory in Europe as the Nazis surrendered.  Along with the invasion of Europe there was the discovery of the death camps, as well liberation of the POWs who many were walking skeletons.  The Germans murdered 12 million people during the war, of those half were Jewish.  In addition the killed dissidents, homosexuals, those with abnormalities, Polish, and many other groups.  This was an evil empire, and the American service men in the area took home that they were carrying out a noble cause.
With victory in Europe the focus turned to Japan.  The Battle of Okinawa was very costly to Japanese troops, American troops and Japanese civilians.  The next stage of the war, the invasion of Japan was a daunting task.  The Japanese readily armed civilians, and had the concept of fighting to the death.  President Truman had a big decision to make, whether to use the atomic bomb or no.  He did not hesitate in ordering its use.  Caught up in this scenario is the sinking of the USS Indianapolis which had delivered the bomb.  They were hit by Japanese torpedoes form a submarine.  Many of these sailors died after entering the water.  They were attacked by sharks.  Also rescue was very slow, as the Navy lost track of this ship.  The distress signals sent were considered to by a Japanese ploy to lure ships into the area.
The Japanese were still hesitant to surrender after the bomb in Hiroshima.  This bomb killed 40,000 outright, and eventually would cause the death of a quarter million people.  The bomb in Nagasaki was not quite so deadly, but it convinced the Japanese to surrender.  They did not know how many bombs were in the American arsenal.  In fact there were none, and it would take a couple months to construct another.

Documentary Review: Hiroshima: BBC History of Worlld War II

Hiroshima: BBC History of the World War II, BBC (2005)
This is a very good documentary of the first and second atomic bombings in Japan.  It explores the reason for the bombs very well.  The Japanese refused to surrender when given the chance, even of only the a military surrender.  The Japanese were training their civilians to become human bombs.  They death toll of a U.S. invasion of the Japanese mainland would have been horrendous, for both the Japanese and the Americans.
The film also gives the argument against the use of the bomb, contending it was an experiment at the expense of the Japanese as no one knew the effects the bomb would have although they did know there was radiation.  The first third explores preparation.  One thing I did not know is the things what had to be done to the bomb in flight.  First it was not loaded with the TNT charges that would start the chain reaction until after the bomb was in the air.  Then there were three fuses which had to be put in place, after that the bomb was live.
August 6 the bomb was dropped.  After the bomb was dropped, it was 45 seconds until it detonated.  That is how much time the Enola Gay had to get away.  At the same time there were two other plains, one filming and the other of scientist testing that also had to make sure they were not too close.
The devastation from the bomb was terrible.  The immediate area was incinerated.  There were survivors at a bank only 250 yards from the epicenter of the blast that survived because of the strength of the building.  However most in the area perished, some vaporized.  Others were turned to charcoal.  The other immediate consequence was a flash cloud, which destroyed most everything in its path as it blew everyone, and everything over.  This effect was prevalent for over a mile radius from the epicenter.  Walls and buildings became deadly debris.  People were blown over like a ball that was thrown.
The after effects of the bomb were horrendous.  Many were thirsty because of the effects of the heat.  It started to rain a black sludge.  Many drank this.  However it had deadly effects as it was full of radiation.  This radiation caused people to decay away from the inside.  Many vomited brown liquid, which were their decaying internal organs.  The death was terrific.
As the Japanese did not yet surrender, Nagasaki was also bombed three days later.  Finally the Japanese, still torn as many had the attitude  better to die than surrender, the question was  put to the emperor, who decided the suffering should stop.  Victory in Japan had finally been achieved.